Modularity is a cardinal axiom of Japanese traditional dwellings. Both for framing and spatial organization, the ken (1:1) and the tatami mat (1:2) outline basic compositional rules and ratios for component compatibility and the coherent sharing of knowledge among master builders. The inspiring force of traditional Japanese grids and geometries on modern architecture fostered a new formal and spatial lexicon while affirming the rejection of more euro-centric doctrines.
Composing and regulating architecture through rational proportioning units or frameworks is arguably the legacy of Japanese architecture conveyed by the modern architect. For iconic modernists, Neutra, Wright, Le Corbusier, Eames, the didactic use of production geometries entrenched these traditions in a clearly new industrial language. Rudolph Schindler’s role in advancing these theories in the United States, in California in particular, is well documented. His obsessive use of grids and measurements has recently been the object of scholarly study. An article by Jin-Ho Park published in Nexus Network Journal vol. 5 no. 2 (Autumn 2003) explores and studies Schindler’s grid geometry.
Particularly in two projects (the Monolith Homes and the Schindler Shelters) the use of a five-foot or four-foot organizing unit circumscribes the rational use of materials for defining spaces and their formulated juxtaposition. The grid and its subsequent regular fractioning employed as a drawing underlay, relates dwelling elements in all three dimensions. Conceptually, the grid is a perceptual planning device. The designer develops spaces according to his understanding of the grid’s scale. Further the grid also connects architecture with manufacturing criteria streamlining design, manufacturing and building stakeholders. Identifying each grid axis by numbers and letters facilitates communication for localizing, situating and positioning elements. Maintaining a recognizable set of dividing principles is a key to creating this potential. Plan dimensions can be read through simple use of grids and graphic scales.
The Monolith homes (1919) actually designed by Schindler while working for Frank Lloyd Wright and the Schindler Shelters (1933) are the clear manifestation of the grid as a modern design order. Based on similar components, spatial dimensions and architectural planning elements, this seriality, a type of pattern language, established a strain of architectural projects devised through similar organizing principles illustrating the basis of a scalable geometric language.
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| Schindler Shelters rendering |
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